


World Without End

by titanialioness



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Don't worry, F/M, Romance, Zombies, idk he and jill are there but not a huge part of the story, probably really ooc Chris to be honest, really cheesy Chris, really cheesy romance, there is plenty of action and fighting zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-10-22 02:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 15,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10687524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titanialioness/pseuds/titanialioness
Summary: A blind date gone wrong reminds Rebecca that guys just aren't worth it... except for a certain Billy Coen she hasn't been able to get off her mind, even though he's long since run off. When an outbreak scatters Rebecca's team and nearly kills them all, she might just get the reunion with Billy she wished for. Plus zombies.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo yeah I only had FFN account before and recently got an Ao3 one. I finished this fic YEARS ago, so it's all written and I can update regularly. I've only recently gotten back into fanfiction, so hoping that posting this will get me writing again :)

**Officer Rebecca Chambers** exhaled noisily, blowing a loose strand of dark brown hair out of her face. Taking half a second to aim, she fired a round of bullets into the target at the far end of the room. Every single one hit within the inner two circles of the target, but her skill gave her no pleasure.

            “How dare they? How could they do that to me?” she muttered under her breath. “And they call themselves my friends. Stupid men…who needs them?” Still grumbling to herself, she reloaded her gun with a quiet click. She was about to fire another round when a girl’s voice interrupted her from outside the room.

            “Rebecca! We’re really sorry, but you have to understand! We were only trying to help. You know it’s only for your own good.” The handle of the door rattled, but Rebecca had locked it. The door did not budge.

            “Go away, Jill! I don’t want to hear it!” Rebecca yelled back through the door.

            “Come on, Rebecca. Please?” another voice tried.

            “No, Chris! Just leave!” She fired off the next round of bullets then, drowning out whatever they said next. Rebecca didn’t want to hear their excuses.

            It had begun that morning. Jill and Chris had invited her to eat breakfast with them—their treat. Rebecca had thought the offer strange and sudden, but had accepted anyway. Free food, right?

            Bad idea.

            She didn’t know what was really in store for her then, though. She arrived at the appointed place on time. The hostess greeted her, and informed Rebecca that her group had already arrived and was waiting inside. So, she followed the waitress to the table, and for a moment thought there had been a mistake. It wasn’t Jill and Chris sitting there, oh no. It was some stranger. He greeted her by name, but talked to her boobs instead of her face. Although feeling awkward about the whole situation, she stayed a couple minutes… only to find out that her so-called “friends” had set her up on a blind date. A blind date with some hideous, super perverted freak.

            _‘I’ll never forgive them for this one,’_ she swore silently.

            “Please,” Jill called earnestly, “just listen to our side of it.” The doorknob rattled again.

            Rebecca rolled her eyes and continued to ignore her. She didn’t have time to hear Jill’s lame attempt at a lousy excuse. She opened a new pack of bullets and reloaded her gun again. The target she had been shooting at for the last half an hour was in tatters, and the bull’s eye pattern was impossible to make out.

            Even though Rebecca was ignoring her, Jill continued talking. “We know how lonely you get. Chris and I are always together, but… we worry about you. We’re your friends, and we want you to really be happy, Rebecca. You’re so good at hiding it, but we can still tell. We don’t want you to have to pretend to be happy anymore.”

            _‘Wow, she sounds like my mother,’_ Rebecca thought, rolling her eyes.

            “She’s right, Rebecca. We were only trying to help,” Chris added.

            Well they had failed at it. Miserably. Rebecca sighed. She knew what they said was true. A little bit, anyway. She wasn’t happy at all. And she didn’t know why, either. Rebecca just felt something important was missing in her life.

            _‘Or some_ one _important…’_ the little voice in her head whispered.

            “Shut up!!” she screamed, both to her friends and herself.

            She had tried so hard over the last almost two years to forget… _him_. But it was impossible. Even though she barely knew him and their time together had hardly lasted a day, he had somehow managed to make himself a permanent part of her life, haunting her every thought.

            Billy Coen.

            Just thinking his name sent a spasm of pain through her heart. She missed him. Even now, the memories were fresh in her mind, as if the incident on the train had happened only yesterday. Everything thing was so clear: their first meeting, their final goodbye.

            Of course, Rebecca didn’t know why she felt so connected to Billy. She barely knew him. Maybe it had something to do with being in a life or death situation with him. Maybe because he had saved her life, and she had saved his. Maybe because he had trusted her enough to tell her the truth about his past.

            Whatever the reason, it was all because of _him_ Rebecca was so mad at her friends. How could she ever even be remotely interested in some other guy when she couldn’t get Billy out of her mind?

            ‘I _feel bad for blaming Jill and Chris, though. They have no idea I even met with Billy,’_ Rebecca considered, frowning.

            Thinking of her first encounter with Billy brought her mind back to that night. The STARS Bravo team had flown to Raccoon City to investigate a series of bizarre murders nearby. Rebecca never could have guessed that the murderers were actually dead—and not even human at all. The team was almost to the city when their helicopter took a crash landing in the forest, but luckily there were no fatalities or major injuries. Rebecca and other members of the STARS Bravo team had begun to scout the area in hopes of finding help.

            While searching, they came upon an overturned police car. Two dead policemen were strewn across the ground, staining the grass with blood. In the bushes nearby was a briefcase which had been flung open, presumably when the police car had crashed. One of the papers inside had a picture of Billy—dark hair, dark eyes. “Court order for transportation,” it read, “Prisoner: Billy Coen. Ex-lieutenant, 26 years old. Court marshaled and sentenced to death July 22nd.”

            Rebecca and the rest of Bravo team assumed it was Billy Coen who had murdered the policemen to gain his freedom, and they began searching the area to hunt him down and put him back into custody. They all went off alone, and if they found him, they were to report back to the squad leader immediately. Shooting him was permitted. Their mission now was to capture him—dead or alive.

            It was then Rebecca came to the train. She had no idea that the train’s passengers were now nothing but an army of zombies. Rebecca shuddered at the memory of those mindless monsters that awaited them inside, driven only by the need to eat living flesh. It was the first time she had come across those foul, undead creatures, but it would not be the last.

            But more importantly, the train was where she had met Billy. Those first few moments with him constantly replayed in her mind over and over again. By now, those first minutes were practically etched into her brain by now.

            She was kneeling by the dead body of one of the train’s staff. Rebecca wanted to get a better look at what had attacked him—something human, like Billy, or something far worse?

            She had been trained to always keep her guard up and her senses keen. But Billy was sneaky and slipped past her guard. A bit too late, she heard him enter. He cocked his gun with a quiet click, and Rebecca knew he was holding a gun to her head. She slowly stood up and turned to face him, thinking for sure this was the end for her.

            She recognized his face from the photo instantly. “Billy… Lt. Coen.”

            “So… you seem to know me,” was his reply. “Been fantasizing about me, have you?”

            Their conversation had been short. At the end, he turned his back on her and left, giving her the perfect opportunity to take out her gun and shoot him point-blank. But of course, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

            And then she met up with him again, later on. He had saved her life that time. Rebecca was beginning to doubt he was a bad man—underneath his bad ass attitude, she was beginning to see that he really was a sensitive and sweet, caring individual. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. And as they battled their way through the train, watching each other’s backs, her trust in him grew stronger. She trusted him with her life, and he trusted her with his.

            And then she received the radio transmission. Her leader, Enrico, informed her they had found more information on the convict, Billy Coen. According to him, he had murdered 23 people without any hesitation. He was ruthless and dangerous, and he would shoot her on sight like the others he had killed.

            Yet there he stood, not two yards away from her.  Sure, he looked a little rough with the tattoos and angry expression… but he wasn’t dangerous. Not to humans, anyway. In fact, he almost looked sad. Like an abused puppy, blamed for a crime he did not commit. And that’s what Rebecca thought had happened—he was framed. But she still felt she had to ask him about the truth. Rebecca needed to know for sure. And so she waited until the perfect moment to bring it up. Surprisingly, the moment came seconds after he had saved her life—again. Billy hesitated, but told her his story.

            It happened during his career as a lieutenant in the army, at a war overseas. A spy had informed the group of a guerilla hideout deep in the jungles, and he and some others set out to find it.  Well, something must have gone wrong because when they got to the correct coordinates, they were in a small, innocent village. They inspected the small town through and through, but it wasn’t an enemy hideout or even anything resembling one. The villagers weren’t involved in the war at all. But the general didn’t want to return empty handed. He ordered the remaining soldiers to fire on the innocent people and kill them all.

            Billy did not say if he participated or not in the slaughter. Rebecca felt sure he hadn’t, though, and he had been sentenced to death for disobeying his commanding officer’s orders. They didn’t want word of the murder to get out to the public, so they decided on the easiest way to cover everything up—getting rid of the people who were there.

            It was only a guess, but Rebecca felt like she was right. Even though she had only known him for a short while, she was sure Billy would never hurt an innocent human being. As far as she could tell, he was a strong, brave individual with a strong set of moral standards and ethics.

            So when she got another radio call, asking if she had come across Billy Coen, Rebecca lied. “No,” she told Enrico, her voice set with her decision. Billy had saved her life twice, and he didn’t deserve to die. Her first real mission, and already she had disobeyed orders and lied to her commanding officer. But no one would ever learn about it, and there was not a single doubt in her mind that her decision was wrong. Rebecca knew that if she didn’t listen to her heart, she would never be able to live with herself.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It always begins with a helicopter drop-off in the middle of nowhere, right?

**The doorknob rattled loudly** , and Jill banged against the door a few times. The sound snapped Rebecca out of the past and abruptly she was back in the shooting range.

            “Rebecca! Are you okay in there?” Jill called. “You got really quiet all of a sudden.”

            “I’m fine!” She tried to sound angry, but the flood of memories was exhausting, and had drained her mentally. She had cooled down at least, and was ready to forgive Jill and Chris. Rebecca put away her gun, unlocked the door, and went into the hall. Her friends stood awkwardly around the door, surprised by her sudden appearance.

            “Sorry,” Rebecca apologized. “It’s personal.”

            “Ah. Bad time of month?” Chris joked.

            “No,” she snipped back. Frantically, Rebecca thought up an excuse for her behavior caused by Billy. “That guy just freaked me out a little. He was a real pervert.” It wasn’t a lie, so technically it was the truth.

            “Oh,” Jill said. “Why didn’t you just punch him in the face, or something?”

            “Couldn’t. Too many potential witnesses.”

            They all laughed, and Rebecca knew their friendship had not been harmed because of her moping over Billy.

            “Anyways,” Chris said, his voice suddenly all-business. “While you were in the shooting room, the RCPD scheduled a mission for us tonight. We’re to report to Headquarters for a quick night operation. Are you almost ready to go?”

            Rebecca looked down at the pale spring green dress she had worn to the breakfast that morning. A change of clothes would probably be a good idea. “Just a minute.”

Fifteen minutes later, the trio was in the jeep and on the way to the Raccoon City police department.  They were given missions like these because they were a part of STARS, a branch of the police department, specially trained and the best of the best. Normally, Jill and Chris would be with the rest of the Alpha team, and Rebecca would stay with her own group, team Bravo. Rebecca thought it was rather odd that she was ordered along. _‘The mission must not be a tough one, since they’re bringing along a rookie like me,’_ she decided. _‘Either that or the medic for Team Alpha couldn’t make it on such short notice.’_

            “Any idea what this mission is about?” Rebecca asked.

            “No clue,” Jill replied. “Probably like the last few—possible group of zombies hiding out somewhere.”

            Rebecca nodded. The usual. Lately there hadn’t been much zombie activity, and scientists and city officials were beginning to think the nightmare of the T-Virus’s effects were over. Following the train incident, STARS went on a series of missions to exterminate the infected population of zombies. The T-Virus hadn’t had much time to spread and before long the outbreaks died down, so to speak. The last few missions had all been false alarms. This one probably would be, too.

            Rebecca checked her supplies. Her favorite handgun was loaded and within easy reach, while each of her four pockets held two boxes of extra bullets. The small backpack she wore was filled with medical supplies. She also knew she would find an extra gun and a couple more extra boxes of ammo in the side pockets of her pack. False alarm or not, it never hurt to be prepared for the worst.

            They arrived at the Raccoon City police department a few minutes early, which was good. Immediately, a young blonde secretary ushered them into one of the back conference rooms. Through the door a tall and muscled man in a crisp military uniform waited, saluting them as they entered. The three friends recognized him as the department’s Chief.

            “Are you ready for the briefing?” their boss barked. He had always been a strict man.

            “Yes, sir!” Chris answered for everyone.

            Without a pause, the Chief slapped the map on wall behind him with a ruler-like object. It was a map of Raccoon City, and the point of his stick hit an area of forest east of the city. “The witness is a woman, mid-twenties. She was out walking her dog about an hour ago when she was alerted by a scream nearby. She ran over to help the victim, and claimed to have seen a small group of four or five creatures huddled around a limp body. The woman says the creatures hesitated in their feast to look up at her. She described them as slow, unintelligent creatures who looked human except for their rotting skin. They began to walk in her direction, but their attention was diverted by something and they ran off into the woods.”

            “Someone else, perhaps?” Rebecca wondered aloud.

            “It does not matter,” the Chief said in a monotone. “What does matter is that this group of zombies may be on the loose, not too far from the city. It’s possible that this is just another juvenile scam, but we can’t take chances. You three should be enough to take care of them. Are you ready to head out?”

            “Yes sir!” the three said in unison.

            He nodded stiffly. “The helicopter is waiting on the roof for you.” He hesitated, then reluctantly added, “And good luck, soldiers.”

            They all nodded, saluted, and left the room. As the trio jogged up the stairs, Jill commented, “Sounds like the usual.”

            “Yeah, I agree. I swear, those kids are getting worse each generation. Now they’re starting to think it funny to dress up as zombies and scare people to death with their pranks,” Chris replied, annoyance dripping from his words.

            They climbed into the helicopter. Rebecca thought Chris had an interesting choice of words. ‘… _and scare people to death…’_ She didn’t really want to say it out loud, but something about this mission was making her edgy. As they rose higher into the air, Rebecca glanced uneasily out of the window. It was pitch black in the woods below. “Why can’t we just wait until it’s morning to get this done?”

            “Why do you ask? Are you getting scared?” Jill teased.

            “No,” Rebecca lied quickly, biting her lower lip. “It would just be easier to see the surrounding area, is all.”

            “There’s nothing in the dark but a group of idiot teenagers,” Chris said, rolling his eyes.

            But Rebecca wasn’t listening. Chris’s words still tumbled around her brain, occupying all of her attention. _‘…to death… to death…’_

 


	3. Chapter 3

**A few minutes later,** the helicopter hovered a foot or two above the ground, and Rebecca snapped back from her daydreaming yet again. Jill and Chris were just readying their weapons and doing last minute checks of their supplies. They talked casually to each other as they did so, completely at ease. Rebecca couldn’t convince herself that their task was as easy as they thought, though. Something still made her uneasy.

“Give me a call when you’re finished here,” the helicopter pilot bellowed over the deafening thumping of the choppers as the team hopped out. As soon as they were safely on the solid ground, the helicopter took off, eradicating any chance of escape from the sinister forest.

The pilot had released them near the center of the park where the alleged “zombies” had been seen. The three STARS members had their guns up and flashlights on, although it seemed Rebecca was more cautious in her movements than her two friends.

“That’s the picnic table the zombies were seen by,” Chris said, shining his light on the stone structure a few yards away. There was a hint of a yawn in his voice.

Wordlessly, the trio approached the picnic table and searched for any signs to help in their investigation. They spread out so that Jill stayed by the table, Chris hunted for clues by the dirt path, and Rebecca searched near the forest’s edge, being careful not to stray too far.

A few yards into the forest, something shiny caught the light of Rebecca’s flashlight. Cautiously, she approached the sparkling object and bent down to pick it up. Between her fingers was a pair of cool silver dog tags, held together on a metal chain. They were stained in dry blood. Looking down, Rebecca realized that there was more blood in the grass nearby, and it dripped off into the darker parts of the woods.

“Hey guys, get over here!” she called as she inspected the dog tag closer. Curious, she wiped the blood off the front with her thumb so she could read the name engraved on it. She mouthed the words as she read them.

“Billy Coen…”

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and she jumped at the sudden contact and involuntarily yelped in surprise. Her head swung up and she recognized Jill’s features in the pale crescent moon. She laughed at Rebecca’s reaction. “Jumpy much?”

Rebecca ignored her. She slipped the tags into her pocket before Jill could see them, and then gestured to the blood on the ground. “Look at this.”

Jill bent in to get a closer look. She dipped a finger into a small droplet of red, and rubbed it between her fingers. “Chris, you better take a look at this.”

Chris wasn’t far away and soon arrived by beside them. “Blood?”

“But whose? It feels human enough… but it may belong to one of the zombies.”

“It doesn’t look like it was that bad of an injury, and it does feel human. I bet one of those teenagers cut themselves on accident,” Chris countered. “Maybe they set it up, to make it seem more realistic.” He was still intent on the idea that there were no zombies left in the world, and the entire mission was just one big hoax.

“We still should check it out,” concluded Jill. Chris didn’t argue, so they began following the trail of blood into the forest.

Rebecca remained silent throughout their conversation. Even if she wanted to speak, she was trembling too hard to speak anything coherent. She was thankful it was dark, so Jill and Chris couldn’t see her. _‘What if that’s Billy’s blood? Is he okay? Why is he even here?’_ Thoughts tumbled through her head. _‘What if he’s been turned into a zombie?’_

“Hey Rebecca?” Jill’s voice drifted through the blackness from a few yards away. “Are you there? Let’s go!”

Rebecca took a deep breath and followed her friends into the dark.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zombies!!!

**It was around 10 o’clock** when she heard it.

            Chris, Jill, and Rebecca had stayed together for a while, but since the trail had gotten lost amidst the trees, they split up temporarily. They could still stay in contact through their radios if something came up.

            So Rebecca was alone in the woods, flashlight raised and handgun ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. Jill and Chris were not far away. But despite the safety that came with her friends, gun, and fighting expertise, she was shaking and trembling.

            The thought that Billy, the ghost that haunted her dreams for the last two years, could be so close terrified her. What if they bumped into each other? What would she say? What _could_ she say? And she couldn’t shake the fear that if he was here, he might have been turned into a zombie himself. And even if he had, Rebecca wasn’t sure she had the heart to kill him.

            But then again, maybe it wasn’t him at all. It didn’t make sense—she had taken his tags. She clearly remembered pulling them off his neck to show the authorities. After all they had been through, it was the least she could do to take away his old life and death sentence. By taking his only identification—his dog tags—she had given him a chance at a fresh start. Why would he give that up? It had to be a mistake, right? Maybe someone else with the same name had been there, or something else that made sense.

            Rebecca heard the noise, but too much was running through her mind for her to process it completely. It wasn’t until a huge mob of twenty or thirty zombies burst from the bushes that she finally came back to her senses. But by that time it was too late to call for help. Frantic, she shot one zombie three times, hitting its head and chest. Another got hit four times as she fired again. Both of them fell to the ground, dead again. It didn’t help much—there were too many.

            Rebecca fired the rest of the bullets in her gun into the crowd. She fumbled with her pocket, trying to get a fresh clip to reload her gun. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rebecca realized Jill and Chris must have heard her gunshots and would be coming as soon as possible. She just had to hold them off for a bit long until her friends arrived to back her up.

            The zombies shuffled closer, and Rebecca instinctively stumbled backwards in response, still fumbling with her gun and the fresh clip she had finally gotten out of her pocket. Just when she got her gun reloaded, her boot got snagged on a tree root behind her and she tumbled backwards. As she fell to the ground, her handgun slipped from her grasp and hit the forest floor a few feet away from her.

Terrified, she threw herself at her foot, trying to do everything at once: untie her boots, rip the root holding her down, loosen the grip on her ankle, slide her foot from her shoe, drag herself away—anything to get away from the mindless creatures a few mere yards away. Her now chaotic mind was in total panic mode, making it hard to calm down enough to get away. The zombies shuffled closer, their features easier to make out with each step they took. Their pale, molted faces seem to smirk at her, their lifeless black eyes smothering out any flicker of hope Rebecca had left.

Rebecca, sure there would be no chance of escaping this fate, decided to say goodbye in her own way. She knew it was true, and now she would never have the chance to tell him herself now. Near tears, she thought desperately, _‘I love you, Billy…’_

            A pair of lights burst into her blurred vision and smashed into the oncoming mass of zombies. _‘A car?’_ Rebecca wondered, confused. It was too dark to make out very much. Some shots rang out through the forest, and then a pair of warm hands abruptly lifted Rebecca into the air. She shrieked in surprise at first but stopped when she realized she was safe now, sitting in the front seat of a car. Her rescuer was still unknown to her—it was just as pitch black inside the car as outside. The car floor jumped with every bump in the forest. Rebecca could make out shapes as they blurred past outside the window, so they must have been moving fast.

            Still rather dazed from her fall, Rebecca hesitantly sat up. She shifted in her seat in an attempt to get a better look at the driver.

            “Are you okay?” a voice came to her through the dark. It was easy to tell that words were lined with concern.

            Her heart stopped. She could recognize that voice anywhere. It was almost too much to hope that it could actually be _him_ who had saved her life. He, who had come back to her in a million different ways in her dreams each night, each reunion more unrealistic and heart-throbbing than the last.

“Billy…?” she gasped. “Is that you?”

            His deep laugh sounded right next to her, and her heart fluttered with happiness. “The one and only, sweetheart,” he replied. She could almost hear the grin in his voice, and she wished with all her heart it was bright enough for her to make out his face in the gloom.

            “But… But what are you doing here? Where have you—when did—and the police—and why—…?” She spoke in one rushed breath, not bothering to finish one question before asking another. Her words were barely even comprehendible.

            Somehow, though, Billy understood her. Her first question, at least. “Slow down, Rebecca. Right now, it looks a lot like I’m saving your life. I just happened to be in the area, and…I thought maybe you could use a hand.”

            Just then, Rebecca felt blood rush to her cheeks. Embarrassed, Rebecca put her hands to her cheeks to cover her blush before realizing that it was too dark for Billy to see, anyway. _‘Why am I blushing?’_ Rebecca wondered, flustered. _‘Just because he was nearby doesn’t mean he was… watching over me. It must have been a coincidence. He probably didn’t even know it was me that needed help.’_

            She realized then that Billy was waiting for her to reply. Awkwardly, she said, “Well thanks. You did save my life.”

            He chuckled again and joked, “No problem. It wouldn’t be the first time. Hey! You should hire me as a bodyguard.”

            Rebecca laughed, but wondered how serious he was. Personally, she wouldn’t mind. She’d probably enjoy spending the time with Billy, and she knew he could protect her as well as himself. They’d spent enough time together to make her sure of that.

            Abruptly, she remembered her friends. Without meaning too, she swung around to look out the back window, momentarily forgetting that they were way too far away to be seen. “Wait, go back!” She almost shrieked, grabbing Billy’s arm. “Jill and Chris are still back there! Stop!”

            Billy abruptly stomped on the brakes and the car jolted to a sudden stop. He spun to face Rebecca. “Go back? Into that horde of zombies? Are you crazy?”

            Rebecca didn’t answer. She put her hand on the door handle, ready to run back to her friends if she had to. “Coming?”

            He grinned. “You’re asking me? Hell yeah, let’s go!”


	5. Chapter 5

**It was a good thing** that they left when they did, because Jill and Chris were completely surrounded when they got back. The two lovers were back to back, shooting into the zombie mop frantically. Jill held a handgun and while Chris wielded a shotgun. True to their special STARS training, both were surprisingly calm despite the hopelessness of the situation. But as hard as they tried, they weren’t making any noticeable difference in the number of approaching zombies. The rotting creatures didn’t even look like they felt the shots, and mindlessly continued their slow march closer and closer to their prey.

            “Ready to kick some zombie ass?” Billy’s eyes were bright with excitement, noticeable even in the darkness.

            “Or die trying,” Rebecca replied with a grin, then laughed. “Why are you so excited?” It seemed like he hadn’t changed much since their last escapade together. She felt a lot safer going into a life or death situation with Billy at her side.

            Billy left her question unanswered as he revved the engine of his jeep. They surged forward, aiming to hit the zombies straight on. Rebecca shot out the open window with her handgun, hitting any zombies that got close enough to attempt to hop onto the vehicle.

The jeep hit the crowd of zombies hard, but it was moving so fast that they plowed right through. Zombie bodies flew through the air in every direction. Billy stopped the car, and Jill and Chris—thinking quick—dove into the back seat. They had barely any time to sit down and close the door when Billy stomped on the gas pedal again, zooming away as fast as the car would allow. Trees whipped past the window, blurring as they accelerated.

            Thinking they were finally safe, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “That was a close one,” Jill stated, still breathless.

            Rebecca nodded. “I guess the nightmare isn’t over yet…”

            “Oh Jill,” Chris burst out suddenly, biting his lip. “I’m so sorry I put you in danger like that. I was so sure this would be another false alarm. I had no idea…”

            “Don’t worry about it, Chris,” Jill dismissed, trying to make her voice sound nonchalant. “I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself. I just made a mistake in underestimating their numbers, that’s all. This is just a scratch.” Jill tried to give Chris a hug, but winced noticeably in pain when she attempted to lift her left arm.

            It was then Rebecca noticed the slash on Jill’s arm. The wound, Rebecca realized, was bad but not fatal. It would still be best if she treated it as soon as possible to keep the wound from getting infected or dirty. _‘I am the medic of this team, after all,’_ Rebecca thought, feeling useful. She decided to wait until Chris and Jill had finished before addressing Jill with the problem.

            “Don’t try to move your arm; you’ll only make it worse!” Chris cried out, holding her gently. He continued, “Next time ‘just a mistake’ could get you killed. I should have been there for you…”

“You don’t have to worry about me so much…” Rebecca could hear the embarrassment in Jill’s voice.

“I only worry because I love you. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you,” Chris answered softly but firmly.

            “I know, Chris…”

Their voices trailed off into whispers, until Rebecca could no longer make out the conversation going on in the back seat. Silence filled the front of Billy’s jeep. While the two in the back were completely involved in their own private conversation, the atmosphere between Billy and Rebecca got tense and awkward, especially when the soft sounds of kisses drifted up to their ears. Rebecca glanced out the window, watching the first pale light of the sun touch the tip of the horizon. It was still too dark to see much.

Rebecca turned back to Billy and attempted to fill up the silence with small talk. “So… Billy… What brings you back to Raccoon City? I thought you’d be long gone by now,” she asked, trying to keep her voice sounding casual.

“I—…” He hesitated, as if he didn’t know how to convey his thoughts to her. “I had unfinished business in the area.”

Rebecca’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion, her lips curving into a small frown. “Unfinished business?” she echoed.

“Mm-hm.” He glanced over at her, then quickly returned his attention to the forest ahead. In the few seconds their eyes met, Rebecca could have sworn his quick glance over was searching her for some non-verbal response to his short and mysterious answer.

_‘Is he trying to tell me something?’_ she wondered for a moment, still confused about Billy’s equivocating answer. Before Rebecca could put any more thought into Billy’s mysterious behavior, something smacked against the vehicle’s front window with a loud _thump_. Caught off guard, Rebecca screamed and the car swerved before jerking to a sudden stop.

“What is it?” Chris called from the back seat, suddenly alert. “More zombies?”

“It looks like….” Billy began, leaning forward to inspect the blob of grime that had hit the window shield, “…a slug.”

A molted hand smashed through the side window next to Rebecca with an ear-splitting crash. The hands, more of them now, grasped at Rebecca’s body and yanked at her limbs and hair. Rebecca began to scream in fright and alarm as she was dragged through the broken window, the glass shards slicing through the flesh of her back and arms.

“Billy!” she cried out.  Billy’s shocked face was just barely visible through the horde of zombie bodies. Within seconds, he disappeared from view. “Billy, help!”

Rebecca was smothered in the cold, grimy bodies of the scores of zombies as they pressed against her. Bursts of pain shot up at various points around her helpless body as the zombies bit and scratched at her skin barbarically. Rebecca tried to fight them off by throwing out her hands and kicking her feet wildly, but she was completely helpless against the sheer number of undead creatures.

Somewhere far away, she heard Billy call out, “Rebecca, hold on!”

A smile touched her lips as she realized that meant Billy was worried about her.  Rebecca really hoped he would be able to get out alive, even though it was too late for her. There were too many of them this time for her to make it, no matter what Billy did. So with that last contented thought of Billy, she closed her eyes and was dead to the world.


	6. Chapter 6

**Unconsciousness dulled the pain** like being buried in a warm blanket. Her body was numb all over, and any pain from her wounds assuaged by the obscure darkness. A perfect silence stretched over Rebecca’s world, broken only by the occasional beating of her faltering heart. Time slowed down until she lost track of it completely. She knew she was dying, but she felt strangely calm in the face of death.

            “Rebecca!” a familiar voice echoed through the dark, just a whisper to her fading consciousness.

            She ignored the voice, happy in her blissful world of ignorance.

            “Rebecca!” the voice repeated, a bit louder. “Rebecca, wake up damn it!”

            Still ignoring it, Rebecca pushed the voice from her mind. She had failed. Accepting that simple fact and just giving up was so much easier. She was dying anyway, why make that any more painful for her than it already was? It wouldn’t be too much longer until she could sleep forever, calm and peaceful in this dark, dark world.

            Rebecca inhaled her last feeble breath of air, but before she could release it and fade away into the eternal sleep that awaited her, a single droplet of warm water hit her cheek and slid down the side of her face. Two more followed the first. _‘Rain…?’_ the tip of her remaining conscious wondered, fainter than a slight breeze. _‘…Not rain…It’s…’_

All at once, the darkness lifted and all her pain returned. Rebecca’s eyelids fluttered and she moaned in pain as she shifted her position.

            “Oh Rebecca, thank God you’re okay!”

            At first, she couldn’t see anything—Rebecca’s vision was impaired by a layer of blurriness which seemed to shroud everything around her in a thick fog. She could feel she was lying on the ground while her head rested on someone’s lap, a gentle hand on her cheek. After blinking a few times, Rebecca’s eyes slowly focused. The first thing she could make out was Billy’s face, inches from her own. Surprised and confused, Rebecca opened and closed her eyes a few more times. When she could finally focus on him completely, she could see his eyes were watery and his cheeks flushed. Before she could ask him about it though, Billy turned his face away as if looking into the forest.

            “Billy…” Rebecca mumbled. “What—…?”

            “Don’t try to talk,” Billy interrupted her. “Ah shit, this is looking really bad. You’re bleeding all over…”

            “I-It’s… no big deal. Makes sense that I’d die like this eventually.” She let out a weak laugh. “Where are Jill and Chris?”  The effort she put into speaking sent another spasm of pain through her entire body. She involuntarily rolled to her side to cough blood onto the hard packed dirt underneath them.

            “Hey Rebecca, you okay?” Billy asked, lifting her by the shoulders so she could sit up. He held Rebecca’s hair out of her face, gently sliding it behind her ear.

Rebecca could only give him a weak thumb up.

It was good enough for him. He wasn’t expecting a spoken answer, anyway. Rebecca was in no condition to be speaking or moving around much on her own. Billy let her lean against his side for comfort, which she did gratefully. “Now…Where do you keep your medical supplies?” Billy murmured, more to himself than her.

She was getting colder, but Rebecca couldn’t tell if it was the temperature dropping or the condition she was in. Whatever the reason, Billy wrapped his arms tightly around her body while he rummaged through her pockets and backpack for her medical supplies. Before long, he found the bandages and ointments Rebecca always kept with her and began to treat her injuries.

            “You should get some sleep, Rebecca,” he urged gently. “We’re safe for now.”

            Rebecca was very tired. Part of her wanted to listen to Billy and sink into a deep sleep, trusting him to take care of her. But one simple thing wouldn’t let her accept sleep quite yet: curiosity. A question burned in her mouth. Before she could stop it, the question bubbled up to her trembling lips and escaped. “Billy…?” she began, hesitant.

            Billy glanced up from the bandage he was trying to tie around a gash on her arm. He quickly returned his concentration to his work and managed a distracted, “Uh… yeah?”

            Even curiosity couldn’t keep her awake much longer. Sleep was mere seconds away, but Rebecca struggled to fight it off just long enough to finish. “Why exactly did you come back? Tell me the truth…”

            Silence filled the air as Billy paused from his work but remained silent. Rebecca couldn’t tell if she was still awake or if she had fallen asleep. Dream or not, one word was whispered in her ear.

            _“You.”_

            Rebecca’s slept uneasily. Nightmares plagued her throughout the night. She couldn’t sleep, yet she couldn’t wake. The vivid hallucinations haunting her dreams left Rebecca trembling and breathless.

Throughout the night, her nightmares were always the same—each time the zombies would march at her from all sides. Frantic, she would run away, only to find that no matter how fast she ran, they were always right behind her. Several times she saw the faces of Jill and Chris among the crowd. When she called out to them, they would just turn to stare at her with their blank, dead faces. Rebecca watched helplessly as her friends’ flesh shriveled away, their hair grew dull and molted, and their eyes dilated until they were completely black.

            But then something made her stop in her tracks. She froze, her eyes wide with horror. “No…no…” she stuttered, trembling violently. She took a few steps backwards and stumbled to the ground. “It can’t be…”

            Standing before Rebecca was the zombie of Billy Coen. He stood motionless, staring at her with the dull, glazed over eyes of a newly turned zombie. A growl burst from his darkly-tainted lips, and his heart-breaking face froze in a look of pure malice.

            “Billy… no!” Rebecca screamed in fright as he lunged at her. He was hungry, and she was food. “Billy, I—…!” Just as Billy was about to collide with her petrified body, Rebecca’s eyes flew open.

            She had escaped the dream, but a dark shape still hovered over her. Screaming, her hand instinctively flew out to smack it away. Rebecca’s hand met with soft flesh at full strength, sending a shockwave of small stinging through her palm. Before she could raise her other hand to slap again, a hand gripped her wrist firmly and an arm wrapped around her back. Her entire body shook violently, and tears streamed down her face in fear. She tried to scream out, but it was muffled as her face was pressed into the cotton of Billy’s shirt.

            “It’s okay, Rebecca,” Rebecca heard Billy’s voice whisper into her ear. “You’re safe. It was just a nightmare.”

            Relief instantly washed over Rebecca. He held her closer, and Rebecca felt perfectly safe in his strong arms. _‘I’ve never been so close to him before…’_ Rebecca realized, blushing. She wasn’t scared anymore, but her heart was still beating rapidly. If anything, the constant thumping was faster than before. She wondered if Billy could hear it.

            She shifted her head up to look at Billy, and suddenly realized that it was finally light enough out to see his face. He looked exactly the same as she remembered him—dark brown hair, dark brown eyes. It didn’t seem like much, just the same old Billy, but in that moment she realized she had missed him more than she thought. Billy returned her gaze; his face was almost glowing in the pale rays of morning. A fading red mark was clearly visible on his face where she had slapped him. Rebecca could see where he had gotten hurt before; the skin on his arms was slashed by the dull red marks of older untreated wounds.

Despite the dirt and muck, he seemed almost casual. Maybe even happy. Curiosity got the best of her, and she began to ask what had put him in such a good mood. “Billy, what—”

            “We should go find your friends,” Billy interrupted, avoiding her gaze. He rose to his feet and held out a hand for Rebecca. She took it, and was surprised at the effort it took to get to her feet—even with Billy’s help. Once on her feet, the blood in her body rushed to her head, and for a moment she was overcome with dizziness.

            Billy noticed, too. Concerned, he placed his hands firmly on each of her shoulders and inspected her closely for a minute. Rebecca stared back into his dark almond eyes for a moment before getting uncomfortable and looking away. But unable to stop herself, her eyes continued to flicker back to his every few seconds. He leaned in closer to her, and before she could flinch away he placed a gentle hand over her forehead. His skin felt cold and smooth against her own.

            “You have a fever.”

            Even though the statement was simple enough, Rebecca barely caught the meaning of his words. Whether it because he spoke softly or because it was getting hard to concentrate, she didn’t know. “How bad is it?” she managed to mumble.

            “Well I’m no medic…” Billy began, steadying Rebecca as she almost lost her balance, “but I’d say it’s pretty bad.”

Rebecca bit her lip in concentration, trying hard to push away the fog of dizziness that smothered her. _‘Well….A fever isn’t too bad at first… but if it’s not taken care of early on, it could turn into something like pneumonia… or worse,’_ Rebecca recalled _. ’Plus I’m still weak after losing so much blood last night…’_

Billy watched her movements closely, not even bothering to hide his worry. “We should get you to safety and then come back for your friends later.”

As soon as she comprehended his words, Rebecca shook her head slowly. “No. No way. Later may be too late... I need to be sure that Jill and Chris are safe first.”

Billy said nothing for a long moment, lips pressed together in a hard line. He struggled with himself for a moment as he weighed his options. “Well…okay,” he finally agreed, unenthusiastic about it. Despite his reluctance, his mouth crept into a small grin of anticipation. “Let’s go save your friends…again.”


	7. Chapter 7

**“You and your buddies owe me a new jeep** , by the way.”

              Billy paused from their walk by the ruins of his car. It had been tossed to its side, all the windows smashed in, and the hood ripped open like aluminum foil. Holes and scratch marks covered the car’s exterior and scorch marks were scattered randomly across the ground. The entire surrounding forest seemed to be blown away by whatever had happened there.

              “How the hell did you get out of here… on top of saving my life?” Rebecca gasped, shocked at the amount of damage. _‘There must have been more zombies than I thought…’_

Billy shrugged. “Your friends helped,” he said, trying to humble about it. He gesticulated to the scorch marks around the area. “I brought some extra gasoline with me, since I didn’t know how far I would have to drive at the time… I happened to have my lighter on me… so, I improvised.”

              Rebecca stared at him incredulously, a faint idea of what he did forming in her mind. “You…?”

              He chucked darkly. “Unlucky bastards didn’t know what hit them.”

              “Nice,” Rebecca grinned. A though struck her, and her smile abruptly faded. “Did you think Jill and Chris were…?”

              “No way,” he answered firmly. “I know those two were out of the car seconds after you got dragged out by those zombies. They reacted almost instantaneously. I’m sure those guys know better than to be trapped in a place with no room to fight, completely surrounded by zombies. I bet they probably ran in the opposite direction we did, since that’s the door they went out of. That would make it… That way.” Billy pointed straight ahead—out the vehicle’s left side.

              Rebecca nodded in agreement. It made sense to her. “Well…let’s go check it out, then.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about this—she was worried about her friends, but the thought that the zombies had hurt them made her angry. Settling with anger, Rebecca took her handgun from her hip holster and reloaded it. “Let’s do this!”

              They cautiously stepped around the crushed fragments of car and then spread out to look for a clue as to which way Jill and Chris had gone. It didn’t take too long to find the droplets of blood leading off into the woods.

              “Must be from that girl’s cut on her arm,” Billy stated, staring into the still darkened woods. “Or it could be a more recent wound from before…”

              Rebecca grimaced. “Great. Another trail of blood… Her name’s Jill, by the way.”

              “Okay, Jill, then. Let’s go.”

              Rebecca nodded and followed him into the woods, a few steps behind him. “Do you think that… they’ll be okay?”

              “I don’t know… I’d have to say it looks like Jill is pretty hurt. I bet those zombies got her again… Or maybe it’s…” he struggled for the name, “Chris, that’s hurt.”

              Rebecca bit her bottom lip. She knew that he didn’t mean to, but Billy’s words only made her even more worried than before. She hadn’t even considered the fact that Chris could be mortally wounded, too.

              “They should have some basic medical supplies with them…” Rebecca began, her voice weak. But even that thought didn’t bring much hope to the situation.

              Billy paused in his walking and looked back at Rebecca. “Don’t worry too much about it,” he said softly, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. He stared deep into her eyes. “Over-thinking the situation will only make it seem worse than it actually is.”

              Rebecca stopped walking when Billy did, hesitantly returning his gaze. He hadn’t said much, but just knowing he cared made her feel a lot better. On the bright side of things, she was still alive and she still had Billy by her side. “I guess you’re right. And…I guess I should have a little more faith in my friends. They are highly specialized STARS Alpha team members. They’re a lot more experienced than I am, and they definitely know how to take care of themselves.”

              “That’s the spirit,” Billy replied, grinning. He took one of her hands and began leading the way into the forest. “I was beginning to worry about you, Rebecca.”

              Even though he was turned away, she gave him thumbs up and smiled. “Thanks, Billy,” she whispered, more to herself than him. “For everything.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**“Hurry up, Jill! Please,** we have to keep going!”

            Chris tried to drag along Jill’s unresponsive body, supporting most of her body weight on his shoulder. He could slowly feel her grip loosening and she slowly started to slip away.

            “Damn it…” he cursed, teeth clenched. He paused in his run for a moment to heft Jill onto his back more securely, and then returned to his awkward limped jog. A gash made his right leg almost give out every few steps. He knew he must have hurt his ankle, too, judging by the bolts of pain that shot up his leg with each step he took.

            Things were looking really bad. He hadn’t expected the zombies to return in such exponential numbers. Could they have been hiding somewhere? He and Jill had been attacked by the rabble of zombies before they could even get out of the car door. The only reason they were still alive was because of Rebecca’s friend—his trick with the fire and gasoline blasted and burnt most of the zombies nearby. Unfortunately, it blasted Jill and Chris too. Sometime during the blast, Jill had gotten hit on the head with a piece of flying rubble, or something like that. Chris hadn’t seen exactly what happened to her—everything happened so fast. Her head began to bleed profusely, until finally she fainted and Chris had to carry her away.

            “Hang in there, Jill…” Chris murmured, panting. He didn’t think she could hear him, but he liked to think she could.

            He didn’t know how far he had run. Dawn was just touching the sky, giving the forest a pale grey light. Exhausted, Chris lifted Jill from his back and gently placed her down. He collapsed against a tree, sides heaving, then held Jill close. He tenderly stroked her cheek. “Just hold on for a little bit longer…”

            Chris peeked around the edge of the tree to look back the way they had come. The forest was silent and motionless. Sighing hopelessly, Chris turned back to his beloved. He should have been more prepared for this. It was his entire fault the entire mission had gone this way. None of this would have happened if he hadn’t been so skeptical about everything.

            Chris held Jill’s limp body close, keeping her locked tight in his arms. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Stay with me…”


	9. Chapter 9

**Billy and Rebecca trudged** through the forest as morning steadily got closer. Billy held onto her hand for most of the way. Rebecca figured it was probably because her fever was still pretty bad, and Billy wanted to make sure she didn’t fall and hurt herself. A fever was bad, but a broken or sprained ankle caused from a fall would slow down their pace by a lot more. Rebecca wasn’t sure, though. In any case, she was grateful for it, and held on tight.

            “How far could they have gotten?” Billy murmured, thinking aloud.

            They paused for a moment, allowing Rebecca to try and catch her breath. The ground still spun beneath her feet, and her head throbbed in pain. “They couldn’t have travelled too far…” Rebecca said between breaths.

“Especially if they’re injured,” Billy agreed.

“We’ll catch up. Let’s keep going.”

            Billy looked her over and frowned. It wasn’t hard to tell she wasn’t holding up very well. “Do you want me to carry you? You look terrible.”

            Rebecca abruptly straightened up, her face hardening. “I’m just fine, thank you.” She defiantly took a few steps away from him and into the woods to prove her point.

            But of course, just then another dizzy spell struck and the ground spun up to meet her. She never collided with the forest floor, though—strong arms wrapped around waist and chest. Before she could blink, Rebecca was pulled upright. Even after she had regained her balance, Billy didn’t let her go.

            “You haven’t changed at all, little Miss Do-it-Yourself,” Billy whispered softly in her ear.

His warm breath tickled the skin at her neck, and she shuttered slightly with a thrill of unexpected ecstasy. Her face flushed with heat, but something told her it wasn’t in response to her fever. “Billy, I—”

            “I love you, Rebecca,” he interrupted, his words suddenly pouring out in a rush. “Can’t you see how much you mean to me? You’re so important to me… Ever since the moment we met, I knew there was just something different about you… something special… I never would have thought that….”

            Billy released her from his tight embrace, but kept a firm hand on each of her shoulders. With one swift movement, Rebecca was spun so she was facing him. She found herself staring up at his eyes, which were filled with an emotion she did not recognize. “B—” Rebecca began.

            “I understand that you don’t feel the same way about me, but I do love you, more than anything, and I don’t care—…”

            “Billy—”

            “…—I just want you to know how I feel in case I—”

            Rebecca stood up on her toes and kissed Billy on the lips, cutting off his words. At first he didn’t respond, but it didn’t take long for him to realize this wasn’t a dream. He happily held her face gently between his hands and kissed back passionately. Rebecca was surprised at how much it seemed they were made for each other—she felt like she was specially molded to fit perfectly into Billy’s strong arms. She pressed closer, wishing she could fuse with him and become one. Passion engulfed them. Their lips moved together—soft, warm, and perfect together. Their kisses got deeper and intensified, and the two held each other closer before finally breaking apart, breathless. Billy didn’t release her, and continued to hold her tight in his arms. Rebecca rested her head against his shoulder, and he kissed her on the forehead.

            “Dummy,” Rebecca whispered. “Of course I feel the same way.”

            “Oh Rebecca, I’ve been stuck in an unbearable world without end since we parted… These past few years have been a living hell without you in my life.”

            “I’m sorry, Billy…” Rebecca apologized softly. “I should never have just walked away like that. I had no idea… I had no idea how deeply I was in love with you.”

            He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her. “Don’t apologize. It’s my fault too. I should never have let you go.” He kissed her again, soft and slow.

            Suddenly, the ground disappeared beneath Rebecca as Billy bent and swept her off her feet—literally. He held her in his arms bridal style, muscular enough that her weight didn’t even faze him.

            “Billy!” she squeaked in alarm, caught completely off guard by Billy’s unexpected stunt. “Put me down!”

            “Nope. No can do, Rebecca,” he said, grinning mischievously. “You’re mine now.”

            Rebecca bit her lip and looked away, glowing bright red. “I still don’t think this is really necessary…” she grumbled, trying to cover up her embarrassment with annoyance.

            “You’re light,” he stated, “It’s no big deal. Besides, necessary or not, I don’t want you to push yourself.” Billy paused, then reluctantly added, “And I don’t want you to be exhausted in case we have to fight.”

            “Fight?” Rebecca echoed. She hadn’t seen any zombies, and figured the approaching morning had scared them off.

            Billy pursed his lips and frowned slightly. “Yeah, fight. We haven’t seen any zombies for a while now, but these woods are still pretty dangerous. But… don’t worry. We’ll make it through alive. We always do.”

            “Somehow,” Rebecca added, nodding. Their conversation ended then, and they walked in companionable silence. Rebecca kept herself busy by keeping a wary eye out for any zombies that intended to catch them off guard, if there ever was a zombie smart enough to be capable of such a thing. She also searched the forest floor for any medical herbs that might be growing there. After a few minutes of silence, a question popped into her mind. She asked, “How do you know which way to go?”

            “I’m just following the trail of blood, mostly. I’m also looking for footprints in the mud or broken branches and leaves on the ground that might give us hints on which way your friends went.” His lips crept into a grin, despite the situation. “You wouldn’t ever have guessed it, but my dad took me hunting a lot when I was younger….”

            “Really?” Rebecca asked, genuinely surprised. Now that she realized it, she didn’t know a whole lot about Billy.

            “Yeah,” he replied. One look from Rebecca told him she to hear more. He was obliged that she cared, and continued, “My dad would take me up to the mountains every weekend… We would camp out for a few days, fishing and hunting for food. I’ll never forget sleeping under the stars… there’s nothing like it in the world.”

            Rebecca smiled. Billy sounded like a little kid. “Where is your dad now?”

            “I—… he died, a year or so ago, during the first outbreak of these zombies,” Billy replied hesitantly. “A couple days after you and I went our separate ways, I went home to see my family. But… My dad had turned into—” Billy broke off, and paused to think for a moment. He tried again, “…. I… I did what had to be done though, and saved my mom and little sister.”

            “Oh…” Rebecca felt like she was about to cry. She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Were they both okay?”

“They were both just fine. I got them someplace safe, then returned here to check on you,” Billy replied, pressing his cheek against the side of her head. “I’m happy I came when I did… If I had gotten there a few minutes later…”

“But you didn’t.” Rebecca leaned up, giving him a quick kiss to distract him. Billy grinned against her lips when she did, and returned the kiss until Rebecca pulled away. “Tell me more about your family.”

And so they began to talk to each other. Billy and Rebecca spoke of their pasts, friends, family, likes, dislikes—anything. As time went by, their conversations ranged from serious to silly to sad to happy. Rebecca felt she could tell Billy anything, and without even meaning to her words came out pure and honest—straight from her heart to his. They grew closer together, both in body and soul. Each passing second made Rebecca realize how perfect they were for each other and how they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. He was the yin to her yang, the cheese to her macaroni, the Billy to her Rebecca.

            Every glance that Billy gave her told Rebecca he felt the same way. She loved him, and she wanted to tell him that she did. But… for some reason she was afraid to say those three small words out loud.

While they spoke, she wondered about it. There was only one reason she could come up with: she didn’t want him to leave. If they had to go their separate ways again, those three words would only make things hurt even more for her.

Stubbornly, Rebecca pushed the thought from her head. She would just have to worry about that later. For now, she was content to simply rest in his arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is all done, guys. Uploading is just such a hassle, so I keep forgetting. Just bug me and I'll upload more.


	10. Chapter 10

**Soft voices echoed through the still forest.** Chris jolted awake from his uneasy sleep and glanced around frantically in fear of an attack from the creatures that haunted his dreams. After realizing there was no immediate threat, Chris took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Trying to remain calm and composed, he ventured out into the woods.

Chris’s mind flashed back over the events of the last hour and a half—a lot had happened in such a short time period. After resting a few moments the last time they’d taken a break, he had picked Jill up again to continue through the forest—slower, this time. Chris hadn’t been walking long when they arrived in a clearing. It seemed like a good place to take another break, since it was—for the most part—out in the open. He would be able to see approaching danger from a distance. A wide river raged nearby, framing one side of the clearing.

Chris began to investigate near the center of the clearing, and by chance stumbled into the perfect hiding place: a fort of fallen trees. It looked like it was originally one giant tree that was so ancient, it had eventually fallen down across the clearing. The tree appeared to have knocked over other ones with it when it fell. Together, the trees had fallen in such a way that they resembled a half-collapsed tent. By crawling under the smallest of the tree trunks, Chris found it opened up into a miniature room, protected on every side by walls of tree bark. Branches and leaves, both dead and alive, formed the roof of the enclosure.

He had deemed it a safe enough place to rest until help could arrive. After leaving Jill in the tree fort, Chris reluctantly returned to the forest to cover up the trail of blood their wounds had left. The last thing they needed was another mob of blood-crazed zombies showing up when they were sleeping.

Chris peeked through the leaves of a bush, curious. The soft whispers he could barely make out over the rush of the river seemed to be getting closer. It almost sounded like voices. Human voices. Unless zombies had suddenly gotten smarter, he was hearing people talk. Talking people meant that they were definitely alive, which meant… help was on its way already?

He glanced back at the fallen trees, where Jill’s sleeping body lay. “I’ll be right back, honey. Stay there…”

Chris stealthily crept forward, headed for the voices. He was sure they were human, but he didn’t want to risk it. Could it be Rebecca and her friend? It was painful to admit, but he was sure neither of them could have survived this long.

Taking a few more steps forward, Chris carefully kept himself covered in the trees. Without consciously meaning to, he glanced back in Jill’s direction. He didn’t feel very comfortable straying too far from her side when she was in this kind of condition. A wistful sigh escaped him, then Chris reluctantly returned his attention to the voices.

“Oh, that’s probably my favorite color, too. That or green.” Chris easily recognized it as Rebecca’s voice. He was about to step out to greet them, but curiosity stopped him. He didn’t know who Rebecca’s friend was, the one who had saved them with his car. It had been too dark to get a good look at him, and Rebecca had certainly never mentioned any guys. So, feeling like a gossip-happy old woman, Chris remained silent.

“I like green too,” Rebecca’s friend replied. A single pair of feet padded against the forest floor for a minute longer, as Rebecca and her friend continued to exchange silly chit-chat. Suddenly, they stopped walking and fell silent. “The blood stops here,” Rebecca’s friend commented, obviously confused by the fact.

“What does that mean? They’re nearby?”

“I don’t know… Maybe. I guess we’ll have to look arou—”

A bloodcurdling scream cut him off. Horrified, Chris’s thoughts instantly flashed back to Jill. “Jill!” Chris shouted in horror, abruptly spinning around and sprinting back toward her. The sudden motion reopened the gash on his leg, and blood spurted from the wound. He cried out in pain, but kept running. “Jill…”


	11. Chapter 11

**The scream pierced the morning air** through the dense array of trees.

A second later a surprised shout followed it.

            “What the—”

            “Billy, let’s go! Put me down!” Rebecca demanded frantically, struggling against Billy’s arms. He obeyed wordlessly. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Rebecca took off running. She wobbled at first and almost stumbled to the ground. Just in time, she caught herself and kept running. _‘I guess I haven’t regained my balance yet after being carried for so long….’_ Rebecca concluded. Billy was at her side in an instant.

            “Hey, don’t push yourself too hard,” Billy warned in between breaths as he jogged up beside her. “It might be nothing.”

            “But it might not,” she replied. They entered a clearing, and Rebecca abruptly skidded to a stop. “Is that—…? Oh my God… B-Billy…?” she stuttered, trembling. Rebecca blindly reached back behind her until she found his hand, which she held and squeezed tightly.

            Posed near the center of the small clearing, not too far from a heap of fallen trees, crouched a hideous adult zombie bobcat. As soon as the beastly cat sensed their presence it flashed its head over to face them. The creature hissed at them, flaunting every single one of its sharp, jagged teeth while its pitch black eyes brimmed with bloodlust. Despite its menacing body language, the bobcat remained motionless as if waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

            Chris stood a few feet in front of them, paralyzed with fear—fear of both of the bobcat and for his girlfriend’s life.

            “Chris!” Rebecca whispered. She watched the bobcat carefully, then decided it was far enough away that she’d have time to take out her gun if it decided to attack. Taking a few slow, hesitant steps, Rebecca crept forward to stand beside her friend. Billy followed her like a magnet, eyes glued on the bobcat.

Chris remained silent and made no movement to show he had heard Rebecca.

“Chris!” she tried again, shaking his shoulder lightly. “Where’s Jill?”

             “Jill…” he whispered, echoing the only part of Rebecca’s words he had heard. His eyes glazed over with a pain he was trying to hide.

            “Where is she?” Rebecca repeated.

            Finally, Chris seemed to come back to life. He blinked to clear his head, took a deep breath, and suddenly he was all business. “Jill… We have to save her. We have to kill that bobcat.” He took his magnum from his hip holster and cocked it.

            Rebecca grinned lightly to see her friend back to normal, but the smile quickly died on her lips. Where _was_ Jill? Rebecca swept her eyes around the clearing, but saw no sign of her friend. She did notice, however, that the bobcat had removed its attention from them, instead focusing on the leaves of a few fallen trees nearby. The creature seemed to be searching for something hidden there that only it could smell.

            “We should hurry,” Rebecca whispered. If Jill was there, she was running out of time.

            After exchanging a single glance with Rebecca, Billy took his shotgun off of his back, aimed, and fired.

            He must have hit, because the bobcat let out an infuriated snarl and spun around in an attempt to find the source of the attack. Within moments, its black eyes locked on Billy. The bobcat crouched low to the ground, then leapt forward and scampered in their direction, faster than any of them could have anticipated.

            Billy dove to the left and Chris and Rebecca leapt to the right as the bobcat whipped past them. The bobcat’s attention was still concentrated on Billy. It slid to a stop and turned to chase Billy again, its mouth wide and its claws unsheathed. Again, Billy rolled out of the way seconds before the bobcat’s claw smashed into the ground, leaving a deep imprint in the forest floor.

            “Go help your friend!” Billy called as soon as he had a chance. “I’ll keep this guy distracted!” He gave her one quick thumbs up before returning his attention to the ravenous bobcat.

            Rebecca bit her lip, worried for his safety, but returned the thumbs up. She’d have to trust him to not get killed. She ran to catch up with Chris, who was cornered against the fallen trees by two small bobcat cubs. They were still immature enough to depend upon their mother, but their young age didn’t make them any less dangerous. The two slunk closer to Chris, their eyes gleaming with thirst. He fumbled with his gun for a moment, and then finally managed to shoot one of the cubs in the chest.

            The small creature’s squeal of pain was echoed its sibling’s cry of fury. Together their cries alerted their mother, who was still attacking Billy nearby. Enraged once again, the large bobcat forgot about her old enemy and ran to save her cubs.

            “Rebecca, watch out!” Billy shouted. He fired his shot gun at the bobcat again in an attempt to revert its attention back to him.

            This time though, the bobcat either wasn’t hit or didn’t notice the bullets fired into her back, and ignored Billy completely. She lunged at Rebecca and Chris, the motherly bond she shared with her cubs temporarily overpowering the T-virus she was infected with.

            But little did that Bobcat know, Rebecca was not about to be caught off guard again. Rebecca was ready for the feline as she approached; her body was tensed and adrenaline pumped through her veins. In one fluid movement she raised her handgun and shot repeatedly at the bobcat’s head and chest before the cat even knew what was happening. It mindlessly continued forward towards its prey.

            “Get Jill out of there!” Rebecca managed to shout to Chris, her teeth gritted in concentration as she began running towards the edge of the clearing to keep the cat from getting close to Jill. Before Rebecca could listen for Chris’s reply the zombie mother hovered right above her, claw raised and ready to slice her in half.

            Rebecca spun to the side with hardly a second to spare, and the bobcat collided with the hard forest floor. While the cat prepared to strike again, Rebecca leapt at the chance to fire a round of bullets straight into the bobcat’s head. Warm blood splattered up onto Rebecca’s face, and the cat fell limp.

            She turned just in time to see Chris finishing off the last cub. The exhausted Jill hung on his arm, standing awkwardly on one of her feet. Chris seemed to support most of her weight despite his own exhaustion. From Rebecca’s view, she guessed that Jill’s leg was either broken or very badly sprained, and so she started moving toward Jill to take care of it. It needed care soon, before the damage became permanent.

            “Guess that’s it then. It’s getting brighter outside,” Chris observed. “We just need to call the copter and—…”

            Chris words were suddenly cut off by a low, menacing growl from behind them.

            “Rebecca, I hope that was your stomach because…” Chris’s voice trailed off as he slowly turned around. “Oh shit.”

 


	12. Chapter 12

**A giant bear crashed** through the woods, knocking a few trees over with its massive paws. Others trembled and cracked as the ground shook beneath the bear’s feet. It emerged from the tree line opposite of the group. Torn and rotten black fur hung loosely on the bear’s muscular body, and its jagged teeth and claws gleamed faintly in the morning light. The diminutive molted black fur it still had was rotting and caked with blood and dirt. The most hideous feature was the beast’s eyes—they were the hard, cold and merciless dull black of a zombie’s, thirsty for blood.

            It was obviously once a handsome creature, but the t-virus had transformed it into a hideous creature of the night. He was no ordinary zombie.

            Rebecca involuntarily shrunk back. It was only a black bear, nothing as fierce as a grizzly bear… but still she could tell it was not an opponent to be underestimated. In any case, none of their group was in top fighting condition.

Rebecca exchanged a horrified glance with Billy, who hadn’t moved from his spot across the small clearing. She could see that even someone like Billy felt uneasy about the idea of making that creature his opponent. Involuntarily, he clutched his shotgun closer.

            “Chris,” Rebecca whispered, hoping to avoid attracting the bear’s attention. It hadn’t noticed them yet, instead devoting its attention to the dead bobcat mother, so there was still a bit of time. In any case, she was pretty sure at this point that fighting was inevitable. “Take Jill and get out of here. Billy and I will take care of this.”

            “But—”

            “Go!” Rebecca interrupted urgently, fighting to keep her voice hushed despite the urgency of the situation. “Jill needs serious help—her leg is pretty badly broken. And you don’t look in very good condition yourself…”

Before Chris could begin to defend himself, the bear’s ears twitched. It swung its rotten muzzle in their direction, instantly drawn in by the promise of fresh blood and flesh. It took a few lumbering steps towards them.

“Go!” Rebecca screamed again.

            Chris’s eyes flashed from the approaching bear to the girl in his arms that he loved so much. He came to a decision, and without a second more of hesitation he scooped her onto his back and ran off into the woods as fast as his injuries would allow. Any zombies they encountered in the trees were far less of a threat than the bear by far.

            As much as she wanted too, Rebecca didn’t get the chance to watch them leave—the bear was rapidly approaching her, an unmistakable lust for blood in its eyes. She tensed as it got closer, her heart beating loud enough to drown everything else out; Billy’s shouts of warning, the pounding of the bear’s claws on the forest floor. Firing her handgun at a distance would be next to useless, so Rebecca reluctantly waited for it to get closer, gripping her gun tightly for reassurance.

Finally, the creature towered above her. It swung its massive paw above her head, but she ducked and rolled out of the way. Rebecca could feel a blast of wind as the claws flew past inches from her face. Her roll had brought her to a crouch behind the bear, which swung its head back and forth in an effort to find her. Behind the creature’s massive back, though, Rebecca was safely in its blind spot and temporarily out of danger.

            Rebecca was just about to escape from the bear and hurry to Billy’s side when something caught her eye: the bear’s molted fur.

            The fur was matted and dirty, like the coat of a typical zombie dog. However, unlike most dogs who had lost a lot of their skin and the fur with it, the bear had somehow retained almost all of its hair. The hair was long and thick, and lack of water and other nutrients had caused the fur to dry out. That would make it…

            “Billy!” Rebecca called out, excited, as she dashed out from behind the bear. Although Rebecca couldn’t see it, the bear spun with surprisingly fast reflexes in response to her sudden movement. With a menacing growl of fury it slashed at her with its immense claws, carving three identical gashes into her back.

            The force of the blow made Rebecca scream, and her body flew forward like a rag doll. She hit the ground with a hard thump, pain searing through her entire back. With the breath knocked out of her, it was the most Rebecca could do to keep breathing.

            “Rebecca!”

            Gritting her teeth against the pain, Rebecca managed to look up in time to see Billy running toward her, shotgun raised and ready to fire.

            “Bi…lly…” she gasped weakly. Her lungs refused to fill with air and her heart beat feebly in panic. She needed air. Ignoring her protesting limbs, Rebecca pushed herself up just enough roll over and lie on her back. She winced in pain as her fresh cuts were pressed against the hard-packed dirt floor.

            Oxygen rushed into her grateful lungs. But before she had a chance to recover completely, the furious black bear came into her view. It hovered over her for half a second before swiping one of its paws at her face. At the last second, Rebecca spun to the right, somehow avoiding the blow by mere millimeters. Confused and frustrated that it had missed, the bear swiped with its other paw. This time though, Rebecca rolled in the opposite direction. Again, she barely managed to dodge the skull-crushing attack.

            The small encounter had given Rebecca chance to catch her breath. Before the bear’s slow mind could comprehend swiping at Rebecca again, she flipped to her stomach, pushed herself up, and used her feet to propel herself forward. Her back stung with the effort and Rebecca blinked away the tears forming in her eyes, but she didn’t stop running until she reached Billy.

            Billy caught her hand as she stumbled towards him. He held her up, supporting her weight. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice strained with worry. His eyes never left the bear.

            “I’m fine,” she replied hurriedly, and then before Billy could tell her to run away she quickly continued: “I think I have an idea of how to kill it…”

            “This shotgun doesn’t even faze it… maybe if we had a magnum…”

             “So let’s not use bullets… I have an idea.”

            The animal was roaring and shrieking into the air. It was furious that its breakfast had escaped, and hunger had temporarily overcome any thought to hunt the two down. Billy’s eyes flashed to Rebecca, then back to the bear. “What is it?”

            “Burn it.”

            Billy’s eyes widened in thought, and he turned to inspect the black bear closer. Rebecca could see a glimmer of hope in his eyes when he turned back to her. “Its fur,” he stated simply, understanding her plan.

            “Do you still have your lighter?” Rebecca asked quietly. She too turned her attention to the bear, which had silenced its livid cries. The clearing seemed ominously quiet without them. She was surprised it hadn’t attacked them yet, and then realized with a jolt that it seemed like it didn’t even know where they had gone. _‘Maybe… it’s blind…’_ Rebecca contemplated, studying its eyes. _‘I guess that would explain how its reflexes are so fast. That must mean it relies on sound and smell…’_

            Rebecca lightly touched Billy’s arm, and then placed a finger over her lips. The message was clear, and Billy nodded as he quickly grasped the situation. She gesticulated for him to go one way while she went the other. “I’ll distract it,” she mouthed.

            Billy hesitated, then reluctantly nodded his head in acceptance. Rebecca gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and then turned away. Before she could even take a step, Billy grabbed her wrist and pulled her back towards him. His arms surrounded her in an instant, holding her tightly against his warm body. He pulled slightly away to kiss her lightly on the lips, following it by a gentle peck on the cheek. He whispered two soft words into her ear: “Be careful.”

            He turned around and left before she could reply. Rebecca watched him walk away, and realized with horror that this might be the last time she ever saw him…alive. _‘What if we can’t defeat this bear….?’_

            Rebecca turned her back on Billy, her mind made up. “I know we can,” she whispered to herself. _‘We have to…’_

            And without a doubt in her mind, she ran off to face certain death.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Jill and Chris watched** from the edge of the clearing, just under the cover of the trees and undergrowth. Chris knew it was dangerous to stay close to the battle, but he couldn’t just abandon Rebecca. Jill, conscious now, agreed with him.

            “You think they’ll be okay?” Jill asked, obviously worried. Her eyes followed Rebecca as her friend crouched behind the terrifyingly large bear.

            “I think they’ll be okay,” Chris replied. “At least, I hope so…. Are you feeling any better? Rebecca said your leg is broken.”

            “I don’t doubt it…my hands are fine, though, and that’s all I need to fire a gun.”

            “I guess…but still, don’t push it. If things start to look bad for Rebecca and Billy, I can back them up. But first I want to be sure you’re safe here.”

            Jill reluctantly nodded her acceptance. Chris knew that it hurt Jill to be held back from all the fighting—that girl was born to kill zombies. She loved her line of work, and she was pretty damn good at it. It didn’t help that it was her friend fighting for her life out there. But unfortunately, there was little decision in the matter. It had to be done. Her badly broken leg could not afford to get much worse before the damage became permanent.

            “Look!” Jill exclaimed suddenly, aiming her finger at Billy and Rebecca. Billy was holding Rebecca tight in his arms. The bear was a distance behind them, still unaware of their location. Billy leaned forward to kiss Rebecca once… twice… and then abruptly spun away from her. From their view, both of them could see that each step away from her brought him pain.

“It looks like we didn’t have to worry about her after all…” Jill said, smiling. “I wonder who he is to her.”

“Well I’ve certainly never seen him before tonight,” Chris stated, furrowing his brow as he thought. “And I don’t think she’s ever mentioned him.”

Jill nodded. “He must be special to her, though.”

            Chris murmured his agreement, and then they were silent for a moment. Then, out of nowhere, he laughed.

Jill glanced over at him, obviously wondering what had gotten into him. “What are you laughing about?”

“Our conversation topic,” Chris explained. “It seems a little bit out of place in this life or death situation.”

            Jill thought about that a moment. Then a grin sprung from her lips, followed by a quiet laugh. “I guess you’re right.”

            They returned their attention to the clearing. Their conversation had lightened the mood and made things seem a lot less impossible. Hopeful for their friends’ success, they watched as Billy and Rebecca split up. Rebecca went around to the bear’s front while Billy circled to its back.

            “What are they doing?” Jill murmured, unintentionally leaning forward as if she were watching a good movie.

            “Dividing and conquering? I don’t know… It looks like they have a plan, though, whatever they’re up to. That’s something.”

            Unexpectedly, Rebecca darted in front of the bear, waving her arms frantically and screaming as loud as she could.

Jill and Chris exchanged a bewildered expression. Faintly, Chris wondered if Rebecca had a death wish. Rebecca fired a few times at the bear, but only enough to catch its attention.

“Distracting it?” Jill ventured.

If that was her plan, it worked flawlessly—barely a second had passed since she began trying to catch its attention, and already, the zombie was after her. The bear bounded in Rebecca’s direction, growling savagely. Rebecca watched carefully. She waited until the last moment, then sprung to her right and rolled. From the roll she propelled herself back to her feet and spun, ready to distract the bear again.

            “Rebecca really has gotten better, hasn’t she?” Jill commented. It was impossible to miss the pride that laced her words.

            “Mm-hm…” Chris agreed absentmindedly. His attention was mostly focused on the game of cat-and-mouse happening in the clearing, but it was impossible not to notice that Jill was right.

            They both watched in silence as Rebecca ducked out of harm’s way once again. Rebecca and Billy were both beginning to look exhausted and frustrated. Finally, something changed.

The bear launched at Rebecca exactly as it had the past few times, and again she jumped out of the way. This time though, the creature collided with the ground harder than usual. Before it had the chance to get up, Billy was able to leap onto its back and cling there.

            The bear wasn’t hurt by Billy’s sudden movement, but it was startled and then angered beyond reason at the contact. In a fit of rage, the monster attempted to claw Billy from its back. The bear, however, wasn’t flexible enough to reach all the way behind him, and fortunately Billy was saved from its probing paws. Billy managed to cling onto the fur with one hand, fiddling with something with the other. Finally, the bear gave up trying to use its paws and thrashed around wildly in an attempt to throw Billy off.

            Although the bear couldn’t dislodge Billy from its back, it did manage to loosen his grip on the lighter. The shiny metal object slipped from Billy’s grasp and clattered to the ground.

            “Rebecca!” Billy shouted, his voice hard to hear over the bear’s savage cries, “the lighter!”

            Rebecca instantly dashed to the thrashing bear, narrowly dodging its flailing claws. As soon as her fingers closed around the small lighter she safely rolled out of the way. “Catch!” she called and flung it into the air.

            “What—damn it, Rebecca!” Billy replied through clenched teeth. Miraculously, though, he caught the lighter with his free hand as it hurtled towards him. He managed to give her half a smile before shifting his attention to the lighter. But even with all his concentration on lighting it, the thrashing bear below him made sure this simple task was nearly impossible.

            Finally, a small flame flickered to life. He quickly pressed the lighter to the bear’s dried out fur, which burst into flame as if it were smothered in gasoline. Billy very hurriedly leapt from the bear’s flaming back, while the bear began growling in pain and rage, thrashing around just as furiously as before.

            Chris faintly wondered how much pain the creature felt. It seemed as if the monster wasn’t in enough pain to stop attacking or grow weak, but it was hurt enough to be a lot angrier. Faintly, Chris could hear Billy and Rebecca yelling to each other, but their words were impossible to make out over the raging howls of the bear. Suddenly the bear froze, its ragged ears pricked up. Billy and Rebecca froze. Without any hint of hesitation, the bear charged at Rebecca, its jaw gaping to reveal jagged-edged teeth. Feral snarls erupted from its burning throat.

Rebecca stood, completely petrified, as the flaming bear loped toward her. Her eyes were wide and wild with fear, her mouth open in a small, terrified gasp.

            “Rebecca! Move!”

            She managed a small step backwards, her feet sinking into the mud bank of the river. _‘Nowhere to go...’_

 “Rebecca!!” Billy tried again. Before he knew what he was doing he dove at Rebecca, shoving her roughly out of the way. The bear collided with Billy with a sickening thud, sending this limp body flying through the air and into the river. The bear, unable to stop, followed. They instantly disappeared into the rapids.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**As soon as the coast was** clear, Chris hurried from their hiding place in the bushes, half-carrying Jill. “Rebecca! Are you okay?”

            She didn’t look okay. Rebecca lay sprawled on the ground, stunned and unable to breathe. Chris instantly knelt to flip her to her back, while Jill dropped to the ground and held her hand soothingly.

            “Billy…” Rebecca gasped. “Wh…where is… he?”

            “He’s…” Jill hesitated, but changed her mind. “Don’t try to talk… you probably have a few broken ribs or something…”

            Rebecca put a hand to her side and weakly nodded once. “Yeah… I feel it,” she managed to say. She struggled to sit up, despite the pain. “But where’s Billy? Is he okay?”

            Chris could easily tell that it was useless to try convincing Rebecca not to move. He quickly glanced toward the raging river, hoping to see Billy’s head pop up somewhere in the waves. As his eyes scanned the bank, he wondered what to do. How could they break the news to her? A glance with Jill told him that she was thinking the same thing. Billy had given up his life to save Rebecca’s. If he hadn’t pushed her out of the way, more than likely it would have been Rebecca that got dragged into the river.

            “Rebecca…” Jill began hesitantly, “About Billy…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit my chapters are short


	15. Chapter 15

**Rebecca’s eyes turned to flint**. Ignoring Jill’s tone, she pressed, “Where is he?”

            “…He… he fell into the river with the bear…” Chris explained, unable to meet Rebecca’s eyes. He stared at the ground and whispered, “I’m… I’m sorry…”

Rebecca remained silent.

            “You would have gotten pushed in if it wasn’t for him… Billy saved your life,” Jill added quietly. She squeezed Rebecca’s hand gently.

            “No…”  Tears began to pool in Rebecca’s eyes. She roughly pushed away Jill and Chris and struggled to get to her feet, ignoring her body’s cries of protest. She cringed in pain as she rose to her feed, then spat blood from her mouth. Slowly and deliberately, she began to walk toward the riverbank. “He didn’t…”

            “Rebecca…” Chris began, searching for the right words to say to her. But the right words to say just didn’t exist.

            Rebecca stumbled forward, her eyes blurry with tears. She came to a stop before the river and stared into the churning dark water. Her eyes were hollow, her face emotionless.

Billy.

He was gone.

The realization hit her, and it hit her hard. Rebecca didn’t even try to stop the flow of tears that poured down her face. They dropped to the ground soundlessly. “Billy…” she sobbed, bowing her head. Her hair covered her face and stuck to her cheeks, wet with teardrops. Shuddering with her sobs, Rebecca screamed out at the river. “Billy Coen you idiot! I hate you! I hate… I… I…”

Rebecca sunk to her knees. She stared blankly at the dark, twisting waters, which danced mockingly before her eyes.

“Why… Why didn’t you let it take me instead… It should have taken me… Now I’ll never be able to tell you… I was too scared… I never got to say… Billy…” Rebecca mumbled incoherently, choking back tears. She curled up on the ground, hugging herself to her knees. She felt like she was falling apart. She was drifting into a meaningless world without love. A world without Billy. A world without end.

“I never got to say… goodbye. I never got to say…”

_‘I love you…’_

A soft chuckle came from behind Rebecca. Her heart stopped.

“I haven’t been gone five minutes, and already you’re planning my funeral?” the voice asked casually.

Rebecca sprung up and twisted around, unable to convince herself it could really be true. It couldn’t be him. It was impossible…

But it was. Billy stood a few feet behind her, soaked and dripping wet. The sun, which had finally risen over the treetops, lit up him with all the colors of the sunrise.

“You seriously thought that little bear could take me out? Didn’t you know I’m like the zombie-killing version of Chuck Norris?” He grinned and held out his arms to her for a hug.

Rebecca struggled to her feet and stumbled towards him. He met her halfway, and she sank into his warm arms. She couldn’t speak—the shock of losing him was still fresh in her heart and mind. Billy didn’t say anything either, just held Rebecca tight against his body. They didn’t need words to speak. They both knew now. Death was no match for their love—after all, this hadn’t been the first time they’d outdone death so many times in one night.

Billy was the first to break the silence. “Rebecca…”

“Billy?” Rebecca replied, inching away just far enough to look into his eyes.

“I love you,” he said softly. His eyes spoke the truth, straight from his heart.

Rebecca smiled and leaned her head against his chest. She wasn’t afraid anymore. And how could she be?—she had him. Her heart raced with excitement. “I love you too, Billy.”


	16. Epilogue

**Not long after killing the bear** , a helicopter finally arrived to carry the bedraggled crew back to safety. Rebecca was terrified that officials at RCPD would recognize Billy and send him back to jail. Luckily, no one asked any questions about him. Instead, thanks to the input of Chris and Jill, Billy was recognized as a hero. He was offered a position on the police force, but politely refused.

~***~

“These belong to you.” Rebecca placed Billy’s dog tags into his hands, then closed his fingers around them. She looked down and began to pull away.

Billy stopped her, reaching up with his other hand to hold her fingers in place. “Is something bothering you?”

Rebecca shook her head, not trusting her voice to speak.

“C’mon, tell me what’s on your mind, babe,” Billy tried again. He grinned half-heartedly, and lifted a hand to stroke her cheek tenderly.

“…It’s nothing,” Rebecca managed. “It’s just… It’s just the dog tags. It reminds me of the last time we went our separate ways.”

Billy pulled her closer, then rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. He grinned suddenly, as if remembering something funny.

“Billy?”

He kissed her then, soft and slow. “You worry too much,” he breathed, just loud enough for her to make out. “This time, I’ll never leave you. I promise…”


End file.
